Recently I was hanging around the Lindner kitchen table when my dad came in with a stack of Christmas cards. They were all gifts from charities he supports, and he didn't want them.
"Can you do anything with these?" he asked, obviously thinking his rather cheesy Christmas stash was on the way to the trash. "I'll see what I can do," I replied, mischievous thoughts flooding my head.Why my optimism? In my opinion, nothing cries out for upcycling like a naff Christmas card. Gold foil, painstaking illustrations, earnest greetings. They want to be good, so bad. More than anything, though, they want to be sent. And for that, they needed some card-jacking.
To bring these cards into the age of irony, I used some simple supplies:
- glue
- lightweight white cardboard
- a thin black marker
More importantly, I used knowledge - that of my friends' weaknesses. Colin loves Star Wars...Gwen loves horror movies. My old studiomates love inappropriate raps. This Christmas, they'd get exactly what they wanted.
First off I wrote out my chosen quote in pencil on the card. I then laid my work on top of the card, to tell which direction, roughly, the speech balloon's tail should point in. Then I sketched the balloon around the words.
Next I glued the speech balloon onto the card in the chosen place, and voila! One upcycled card.
The key is to choose a bit of dialogue your recipient will love, in this case Jack Nicholson's battle cry from The Shining. Because this is a card with two hinged doors, I just chose one and stuck it on. Maybe the other wreath's too scared to talk?
This one's for some Doctor Who-loving kids.
Card-jacking is a brilliant all-ages activity - imagine the fun kids could have, making snowmen talk and Santa sing!
Plus, with the super-low materials cost - some cheap or free cards and materials you've got around the house - there's no fear of messing up. A great starter craft!
